“Trudy and I have put all of our money, all of our childrens’ money, all of our life savings into this place. We cannot leave,” said Mr Gargano.

However, he said that the increasing cost of doing business is becoming harder and harder to operate compared to larger firms in the sector, and the recent budget "did not do enough for small businesses".

When we look at who is closing down, they are not chains. You’re not going to lose a Costa Coffee.

“I believe in paying high taxes so we can have healthcare and amazing education, but Ireland needs to manage its money better,” he said.

The married pair benefitted from pent-up demand after the pandemic, but soon became plagued with inflation fuelled high prices and energy costs like many retail and hospitality businesses.

“I can see people pulling back on what they’re spending for the takeaway, but still wanting to enjoy themselves on the night out because they know now how important that is,” said Mr Gargano.

Mr Gargano added that the budget felt more focused towards consumers which will in turn help him, but that not enough targeted supports were implemented for small businesses. 

“They’re not going to give up their night out, but they might give up their bottle of wine mid-week,” he said.

Mr Gargano said he is feeling the brunt of surging costs both at home and in work, especially energy costs.

For a half tank of oil for his home, it cost €720. "I make around €650 a week, that’s what I go home with,” said Mr Gargano.

At the wine store and eatery, Mr Gargano uses an ice machine and four fridges to chill his wines, which need to run 24 hours a day.

“Our first electricity bill was just under €700. It peaked at €2,800 and we’re back down to around €1,700,” he said.

Say you buy a €20 bottle of wine, my gross profit on that before costs is about €1.40. That’s a lot of bottles of wine to pay the electricity bill.

Mr Gargano received support in the last budget in the form of the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (Tbess) but “it was nowhere near enough to cover the difference”.

He also said the scheme was difficult to navigate, a common problem among businesspeople leading to a slow uptake.

“So we lost out on some of it because we had to get an accountant to take a look at it,” he said.

Meanwhile, he echoed the disappointment expressed from other retail and hospitality operators with the reinstatement of the “shockingly high” 13.5% Vat, which increased from 9% after the pandemic.

“It should be 6%, 9% was way too high,” he said, adding that “hospitality and tourism is such a large part of our GDP”.

He said that people “naturally assume” that because he operates a little wine business that he has loads of money. “It’s the exact opposite”.

“We’re still managing and we’re living the life we want to live and we’re very blessed but it definitely is like we’re stopping and thinking about everything,” he said.